A system for, and method of, improving video image sharpness and a continuous-light-emitting video display system employing the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system for improving video image sharpness includes: (1) a sub-frame generator configured to receive a frame of a video image and generate plural sub-frames therefrom and (2) a spatial filter, associated with the sub-frame generator and configured to cause the plural sub-frames to be spatially filtered with respect to one another based on a display sequence thereof.
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1. A method for generating real-time images from an input video image signal for display by a spatial light modulator video display system, comprising: receiving the input video image signal comprising data representing sequential image frames in frame format; separating luminance and chrominance components of the received data representing an image frame; computing maximum luminance and minimum luminance components from the separated luminance components for the frame using a spatial filter; generating a plurality of sub-frames from the frame using the luminance, maximum luminance and minimum luminance components for the frame, the sub-frames having different levels of spatial-frequency content and being ordered in a display sequence with sub-frames having the highest spatial-frequency content being near the center of the sequence, sub-frames having the lowest spatial-frequency content being near the beginning or end of the sequence, and sub-frames having spatial-frequency content between the highest and lowest being between the center and beginning or end of the sequence; recombining the luminance and chrominance components of the sub-frames in the ordered display sequence; reformatting the ordered display sequence of recombined component subframes into a correspondingly ordered sequence of bit planes; and using the correspondingly ordered sequence of bit planes to sequentially set pixels of the spatial light modulator for display of a video image corresponding to the image frame.
The method improves video image sharpness on a spatial light modulator video display. It receives a video signal, separates each frame's brightness (luminance) and color (chrominance) components. It calculates the maximum and minimum brightness values for each frame, also using a spatial filter. Then it generates several sub-frames from each frame. These sub-frames have varying levels of detail (spatial-frequency content). The sub-frames are arranged in a sequence for display. The sharpest sub-frames are in the middle, the blurriest at the beginning and end. The method then recombines the brightness and color information for each sub-frame and converts the sub-frames into a series of bit planes to control the spatial light modulator, displaying the enhanced video image frame.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received data comprises RGB pixel data.
Building upon the method for improving video image sharpness on a spatial light modulator video display, where the method receives a video signal, separates each frame's brightness (luminance) and color (chrominance) components, calculates the maximum and minimum brightness values for each frame using a spatial filter, generates several sub-frames with varying levels of detail, arranges them in a specific display sequence, recombines the components, and converts to bit planes; here, the received video signal contains data as RGB (red, green, blue) pixel values.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a luminance/color separator receives and separates the RGB pixel data into the luminance and chrominance components.
Expanding on the method for improving video image sharpness on a spatial light modulator video display where the input video data is represented in RGB pixel format; a luminance/color separator component is introduced. This separator's role is to extract the brightness (luminance) and color (chrominance) information from the RGB pixel data. This facilitates separate processing of brightness and color, which is central to creating the sub-frames with enhanced sharpness.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the luminance/color separator produces L luminance and R′G′B′ chrominance data components from the RGB data, as follows: L=max (R, G, B), R′=R/L, G′=G/L, and B′=B/L.
In the method for improving video image sharpness using RGB input, the luminance/color separator doesn't just separate luminance and chrominance; it does so in a specific way. It calculates luminance (L) as the maximum of the R, G, and B values: L=max(R, G, B). Then, it calculates normalized color components: R′=R/L, G′=G/L, and B′=B/L. The output of this separation is L, R', G', and B' for each pixel.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a maximum luminance Lmax and a minimum luminance Lmin are obtained by dilating, eroding and filtering each frame.
In the method for improving video image sharpness, after separating the luminance (L) and chrominance components (R'G'B'), a maximum luminance (Lmax) and a minimum luminance (Lmin) are derived for each frame. These values are calculated by spatially filtering the frame. Specifically, dilation, erosion, and potentially other filtering techniques are applied to the luminance component to determine Lmax and Lmin.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein Lmax is obtained by dilating a frame by a lowpass filter h, then filtering the dilated frame by the lowpass filter h; and Lmin is obtained by eroding the frame by the lowpass filter h, then filtering the eroded framed by the lowpass filter h.
In the method for improving video image sharpness involving maximum (Lmax) and minimum (Lmin) luminance calculations, Lmax is specifically obtained by first dilating the original frame using a low-pass filter 'h' and then applying the low-pass filter 'h' again to the dilated frame. Conversely, Lmin is obtained by first eroding the original frame using the low-pass filter 'h', followed by another application of the low-pass filter 'h' to the eroded frame.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the lowpass filter h is applied to each pixel of the frame to obtain a value for that pixel having a value that has a lower spatial-frequency from neighboring pixels than before the lowpass filter h was applied.
In the method for improving video image sharpness, the low-pass filter 'h' used for dilation and erosion to calculate Lmax and Lmin operates on each pixel of a frame. The filter reduces the spatial frequency of each pixel, effectively blurring it. This means the filtered pixel value is more similar to its neighboring pixels than it was before filtering, removing high-frequency details.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein L, Lmax and Lmin are used by a sub-frame generator to generate the sequence of sub-frames having differing levels of spatial-frequency content.
Within the method for improving video image sharpness, the previously calculated luminance (L), maximum luminance (Lmax), and minimum luminance (Lmin) values are fed into a sub-frame generator. This generator uses these three luminance components to create the sequence of sub-frames. Each sub-frame has a different level of spatial-frequency content, leading to the sharpness enhancement when displayed sequentially.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein a blurry image luminance component is defined as Lb=Lmin, a sharp image luminance component is defined as Ls=L−Lb, and a maximum-minimum luminance difference is defined as B=Lmax−Lmin; a major portion of component Ls is allocated to a central sub-frame; any remaining portion of component Ls is allocated to sub-frames next closest to the central sub-frame; and component Lb is allocated to sub-frames other than the central subframe after the component Ls has been fully allocated; so that the average of the luminance component allocations of all sub-frames is equal to the luminance component of the original frame.
In the method for improving video image sharpness, the sub-frame generator uses L, Lmax, and Lmin to create sub-frames. It defines a blurry image component Lb = Lmin, a sharp image component Ls = L - Lb, and a luminance difference B = Lmax - Lmin. The majority of Ls is put into a central sub-frame. Any remaining Ls goes to the sub-frames closest to the center. Lb is distributed among the other sub-frames after Ls is allocated. The allocations ensure the average luminance of all sub-frames equals the original frame's luminance.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the allocations of luminance components to the sub-frames is symmetrical about the central sub-frame.
In the subframe generation process, where blurry and sharp components are assigned to different subframes, the allocation of luminance components to the sub-frames is symmetrical around the central sub-frame. This means the distribution of sharpness is balanced, creating a smoother visual transition and minimizing artifacts.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the generated sub-frames are provided to a luminance/color recombiner which recombines the sub-frames with R′, G′, B′ components produced by the luminance/color separator, producing Ri, Gi, Bi components for each sub-frame i, as follows: Ri=R′×Li, Gi=G′×Li, and Bi=B′×Li, where Li is the luminance component allocated to the sub-frame i.
In the method for improving video image sharpness, after generating sub-frames with varying luminance levels, a luminance/color recombiner is used. This recombiner combines the luminance (Li) of each sub-frame with the chrominance components (R', G', B') that were initially separated. This produces color values (Ri, Gi, Bi) for each sub-frame: Ri = R' * Li, Gi = G' * Li, Bi = B' * Li.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein a bit plane formatter transforms the Ri, Gi, Bi data and formats the bit planes for smooth image transition from one sub-frame to the next.
In the method for improving video image sharpness, after the luminance and chrominance components have been recombined for each sub-frame, a bit plane formatter is used. This formatter takes the Ri, Gi, Bi data and arranges it into bit planes, which are optimized for smooth image transitions between successive sub-frames when displayed. The formatting aims to reduce visual artifacts and improve the perceived quality of the video.
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December 28, 2006
August 13, 2013
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